Venezuela’s “Bread War” is about government control over price and style, nothing more nothing less – PB/TK
Venezuela’s socialist leaders seize bakeries in ‘bread war’- By Fabiola Sanchez,
For the past 25 years, after he immigrated penniless to Venezuela from Portugal, Eduardo Dos Santos has personally taken care of the loyal clients at Mansion’s Bakery.
But now the downtown Caracas corner store is in the hands of die-hard socialists, and Dos Santos is out of a job, as a result of the latest attempt by the government to reduce the sprawling food lines that have become the symbol of Venezuela’s descent into economic chaos.
With cameras rolling, agents from the National Superintendent of Fair Prices raided Mansion’s last week and accused the owners of hoarding scarce sacks of government-imported flour, saying the subsidized goods should have been used to make price-regulated loaves but instead was turned into more expensive croissants and sweet rolls.
The government said it was taking over the shop for 90 days, turning control over to a pro-government neighborhood committee given the task of distributing bags of staples door-to-door.
“This group of scoundrels arrived and kicked me out,” the 52-year-old Dos Santos said, adding that he feared for his life recalling the violent way he was expelled from the store where he started off as a lowly sales clerk and which he now manages. “One grabbed from me the store’s keys and said ‘Get out of here.'”
Continue to abcnews.go.com article: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/venezuelas-socialist-leaders-seize-bakeries-bread-war-46268076
